In an interview with the Argentine weekly “Viva” the
Pope drew on his own experience in life to come up with a humble
anti-consumerist life style guide.

First on the list was the pontiff’s belief that we should
live and let live; he used an Italian expression
which has basically the same meaning which roughly translates as
“move forward and let others do the same”.

People should be open and generous towards each
other, “be giving to yourself and others” because
“if you withdraw into yourself, you run the risk of becoming
egocentric. And stagnant water becomes putrid,” he said.

The Pope then said that people should “proceed
calmly” through life, and used a character from
Argentinian literature, Gaucho Don Segundo Sombra by Ricardo
Guiraldes, who looks back at how he has lived his life.

A healthy sense of leisure is important and people should
take Sundays off so they can be with their
families, as well as turning off the TV during meals and setting
aside time to play with their children. Consumerism has brought
with it a sense of “anxiety”, he said.

With a nod to the problems faced by many young people in the
world, the Pope said that we must find ways to create dignified
jobs for young people. “We need to be creative with
young people. If they have no opportunities they will
get into drugs” and then be at a greater risk of suicide.

We must take more care of nature and our
environment and that its destruction “is one of the biggest
challenges we have.”

He said that our relationship with nature is at the moment
suicidal, “I think a question that we’re not asking ourselves
is: isn’t humanity committing suicide with this indiscriminate
and tyrannical use of nature.”

He urged people not to be negative. “Needing to talk badly
about others indicates low self-esteem. That means 'I feel so low
that instead of picking myself up I have to cut others
down'.” He added that is healthy to let go of
negative thoughts quickly.

The Pope urged people to respect each other’s
beliefs and not to try and convert others to our way of
thinking.

“The worst thing of all is religious proselytism, which
paralyses: “I am talking with you in order to persuade you.” The
church grows by attraction, not proselytizing,” he said.

Finally the Pope urged people to work hard for
peace and interestingly he said that peace must be loud
and make itself heard.

“The call for peace must be shouted. Peace sometimes gives
the impression of being quiet, but it is never quiet, peace is
always proactive,” he said.

Pope Francis was elected on 13 March 2013. He is known for his
tolerance to towards people of other faiths and people whom the
Catholic Church has traditionally shunned such as homosexuals.